V oters will go to the polls in March to determine who will head up a portion of the village government, including a new individual to sit in the mayor’s chair.

At the Jan. 3 village board meeting village clerk Rick Roberts announced the election will be held Tuesday, March 15.

The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. that day. Positions up for grabs are two village board seats, the mayor and village judge.

The race for the mayor’s seat is wide open following Jay Niles’ announcement he will not be seeking a second term.

Niles was elected following Mayor Tom Scott’s decision against seeking another term back in 2007.

Board members Dean Hyatt and Brian LaRose are up for re-election along with Village Judge Roger Forando.

Petitions to run for any of the positions can be picked up immediately and are due back to the village clerk’s office from Feb. 1-8.

Anyone seeking a position must gather 50 signatures from registered voters who live in the village; the number of signatures needed is determined by state election law.

Roberts said due to changes in state election law the village was left with just two ways to tally the votes: the new scanning machines owned by Washington County and hand ballots.

Although they still take up space against the back wall of the village hall, the so-called “green machines” cannot be used for voting.

Roberts said he has sought guidance from the county regarding the fate of the machines. Questions remain whom the machines belong to, the village or the county, where they should be stored and who is responsible for them now that they have been obsolete by law.

Niles thanked Roberts for anticipating this issue and working to fix it. Granville is one of only five villages in the county that will hold an election in March.